diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/util.go b/test/e2e/framework/util.go
index c596a0d5d8a..b5c466346f5 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/util.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/util.go
@@ -2811,7 +2811,11 @@ func WaitForControlledPodsRunning(c clientset.Interface, ns, name string, kind s
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	err = testutils.WaitForPodsWithLabelRunning(c, ns, selector)
+	replicas, err := getReplicasFromRuntimeObject(rtObject)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	err = testutils.WaitForEnoughPodsWithLabelRunning(c, ns, selector, int(replicas))
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Error while waiting for replication controller %s pods to be running: %v", name, err)
 	}
diff --git a/test/utils/runners.go b/test/utils/runners.go
index 638dc2cb2a4..da5dd49f5ff 100644
--- a/test/utils/runners.go
+++ b/test/utils/runners.go
@@ -828,20 +828,29 @@ func StartPods(c clientset.Interface, replicas int, namespace string, podNamePre
 // Wait up to 10 minutes for all matching pods to become Running and at least one
 // matching pod exists.
 func WaitForPodsWithLabelRunning(c clientset.Interface, ns string, label labels.Selector) error {
+	return WaitForEnoughPodsWithLabelRunning(c, ns, label, -1)
+}
+
+// Wait up to 10 minutes for at least 'replicas' many pods to be Running and at least
+// one matching pod exists. If 'replicas' is < 0, wait for all matching pods running.
+func WaitForEnoughPodsWithLabelRunning(c clientset.Interface, ns string, label labels.Selector, replicas int) error {
 	running := false
 	PodStore := NewPodStore(c, ns, label, fields.Everything())
 	defer PodStore.Stop()
-waitLoop:
 	for start := time.Now(); time.Since(start) < 10*time.Minute; time.Sleep(5 * time.Second) {
 		pods := PodStore.List()
 		if len(pods) == 0 {
-			continue waitLoop
+			continue
 		}
+		runningPodsCount := 0
 		for _, p := range pods {
-			if p.Status.Phase != v1.PodRunning {
-				continue waitLoop
+			if p.Status.Phase == v1.PodRunning {
+				runningPodsCount++
 			}
 		}
+		if (replicas < 0 && runningPodsCount < len(pods)) || (runningPodsCount < replicas) {
+			continue
+		}
 		running = true
 		break
 	}